To Overturn Destiny
by Slytherin Cat
Summary: When Harry stepped through the Veil, he aimed for the Marauder's era because he wanted to defeat Voldemort before he got too powerful. He hadn't expected his luck to came into play and to send him directly to Riddle. When the boy was just a baby. AU.


This OS is written for the Script Competition on the HPFC. If you don't know this band, then you really should go listen to their songs. It's brilliant!

Anyway, I used the song _Hall of Fame_ to inspire this (far too long) OS and I still don't know how I managed to write all this :p

As always, have fun and don't forget to leave a review… (You don't want to know what I do when I don't have what I want… Just kidding :p)

**To Overturn Destiny**

Tom had always known he was different from the other children in the orphanage. It wasn't because he was the only one who hadn't been abandoned on the front of the orphanage and it wasn't because no one liked him (though it contributed). No if he knew he was different it was because of the things he could do and did and because he was the only one who could see _him_.

From what Tom could remember, _He _had always been there, watching him. Well, when Tom said always, it didn't mean that _He_ was always there with him more that no matter as far he went back; he could always find a memory in which the _man_ was. _He_ was sort of like a constant companion, there whenever Tom needed someone to talk to or just someone who genuinely cared about him.

And Tom was the only one who could see _Him._ It really made him feel special and not worthless as the other in the orphanage said he was. And Tom knew that_ He_ was special too. Harry had told him.

oO-Oo

"Are you sure you want to do this Harry?" A bushy haired witch asked. Her name was Hermione Granger and she was Harry Potter's best friend. She was also an Unspeakable, specialized in Time (apparently her experience in third year with the Time-Turner had marked her) and the only other survivor of their generation.

The war had been hard on everyone, but more particularly on the Golden Trio's generation, which had lost almost every of its wizards and witches. They had been killed in the many battles and the few ones who had survived had perished from a terrible curse Lord Voldemort had created. Fortunately Hermione found a cure, but by then it was too late to save anyone except herself (Harry had not been affected, Voldemort wanted something more _personal_ for him).

After Harry had killed Voldemort, he had refused to join the Aurors' Department, claiming to have caught enough Dark wizards for several lifetimes when in truth it just wasn't something he wanted to do anymore. To become an Auror had been a dream he shared with Ron, their dream for a future and he couldn't fulfill it now that Ron wasn't there anymore. The public wouldn't have understood, not that Harry had expected them to, but Hermione had.

The chocolate-eyed Unspeakable had offered a position to her best friend as soon as her boss had accepted her proposition to invite Harry into their ranks. After all, Harry still was the Master of Death, no matter he wished he could deny it and he was the only wizard who survived the Killing Curse. And Hermione had been accepted as soon as she finished Hogwarts and the Department didn't want to lose her brilliant mind. She had already made a few remarkable advancements in the Time Department.

When he learned that being an Unspeakable would allow him to be out of the spot light and even not to be ever seen again by the public if he so wanted, Harry immediately accepted. And so, not two months after the end of the war, Harry Potter disappeared and a new Unspeakable was enrolled in the Department of Mysteries.

The same way Hermione had been marked by her use of the Time-Turner in her third year, harry had been deeply marked by the whispers he had heard coming from behind the Veil. When asked what part of the Department he wanted to study in, Harry had no hesitations and answered that he wanted to study the Veil.

While not as brilliant or clever as his bookish best friend, Harry possessed something she didn't. The Veil talked to him. Apparently every few decades a handful of wizards was born with the ability to hear the souls on the other side of the Veil, but not only was he the only one left now, but never had the voices been as clear as they were to Harry.

It had been scary at first, even though Harry though nothing could scare him anymore but he had gotten used to it. They whispered secrets to him, things that no one knew, things that were forgotten and sometimes, useful ones. He noted everything in a small notebook charmed to never run out of paper and each night he classed it before giving it to his boss. Of course, some things he just kept to himself, because some of the whispers weren't meant to be heard by everyone and the information had been forgotten for a reason. After what Riddle did, what Dumbledore did, what the different Ministers did, Harry couldn't trust in mankind, in wizardkind as easily as he used to.

Fortunately he still had Hermione and she understood perfectly what he was going through so he could tell her everything knowing she wouldn't tell anybody. They had gone through so much together that Harry knew she was probably the only person he could trust with his secrets.

Even so, he hadn't told her of his plan before he had assembled everything he would need, before he had gathered every little bit of useful information the Veil could give him and everything he had learnt from libraries all over the world (being the Wizarding world's savior had its little perks after all).

He had told everyone how the Veil had given him information on Dementors and how to get rid of them (but not on how to create more. He wasn't that stupid), he had given them the information on what was on the other side and on what happened to someone who crossed the Veil (but not everything about the other side_**s**_). What he hadn't told them was that it gave him information on what was happening at the same moment all over the world (how magic was dying, governments breaking, the Dark rising. Or soon at least. How it wouldn't be stopped this time. Couldn't be stopped this time).

But it gave him a solution (somehow the veil didn't want to die. Wasn't that _weird_?) and told him to look into his friend's work. It had taken him some time to understand everything, but after hanging out with smart people for years and listening to Hermione talking about the state of her research every day it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be.

"Yeah I'm sure Mione, don't worry. This will work. It's our only chance anyway. You know what they told me…" It was in times like this that Harry could understand why Luna had behaved that way. If he only heard the Veil when he was near it before, now he could hear the voices whispering to him all the time _'it's time'_, '_come with us'_ or '_help us'._ If the blonde-haired girl had heard them all the time since she was a child it was no wonder she used imaginary creatures to help herself. Anything was better than to tell yourself that you heard the voices of the dead and the could-have been.

"I know. But Harry… Surely someone else could do this. What if it doesn't work? What if you didn't end up when you want to? What if…" She looked like she was going mad with worry and harry knew the 'what if' were killing her.

He kissed the top of her head and smiled at his best oldest friend, swallowing up his own worries. "You know I'm the only one who has a chance to survive. And with my luck, I'm sure it will work out just fine, don't worry"

With sad eyes but putting up a brave front for the sake of the bushy-haired witch who looked like she was fighting with herself not to drag him away from the floating cloth, Harry took a step forward and put his back to the Veil, ignoring the call getting more and more pressing around him.

"Better things than books and cleverness, right?"

Catching the reference, Hermione smiled through her tears. "Be careful"

"When am I not?" He joked half-heartedly. "Goodbye Mione" And without he let himself fall through the Veil. Hermione watched the body of her best friend slowly disappear and prayed he would succeed.

oO-Oo

When he chose to cross the Veil, Harry hadn't expected it to be so white and warm. He thought he would exit immediately where he wanted to go but apparently that was without taking his particular luck into account.

He had aimed originally for his parents' era, because that was when Voldemort had really begun to cause problem and he figured that if he stopped everything from happening that would give them several decades to deal with the future dark problems in other countries (he knew they only happened because Death Eaters had been sent and had recruited in those other countries).

From what the voices had told him he was supposed to exit where he wanted to, but of course it wasn't what happened and now he was stuck in a with nothingness. It reminded him a bit of when he had died at the end of the final battle (well, just before he killed Voldemort). Should he expect a train to suddenly appear? Well, at least he was still dressed this time.

Just as he thought about asking what was going on and where he was, he felt the world shift around him and suddenly up was down and down was up. He could feel himself falling, falling…

_Was this death?_

As if wanting to put a stop to his tragic thoughts, he hit the ground. A real ground.

The bad news were that he wasn't where he wanted to go, that he probably didn't really know anyone in this time period and that he wasn't alive (apparently being the Master of Death only protected you mostly from atomization by Veil) and slightly transparent (not quite like a ghost since he could touch things but definitely not human). But the good news where that he knew exactly where he was.

Though he wasn't sure how he should react that the only person able to see him was the future Dark Lord he had defeated (or was it would defeat? Time travel was confusing…)

oO-Oo

Since it was obvious Harry wasn't heartless enough to kill a small innocent baby (not for lack of trying though. It seemed that something was always there to stop him) and that he couldn't raise the boy for physical reasons (and didn't that suck? Really he went back in time, found himself nearly dead but still it couldn't be easy after that and he couldn't adopt the baby and be done with it. Noo, that would be too simple…), Harry didn't have another choice but to stick around and try to be there for the small wizard as often as he could.

If Tom was doomed to the orphanage, then Harry would do everything he could to make it bearable for him because as far as he knew it was the bad living condition that had pushed Slytherin's heir to become a Dark Lord. Well that and a fear of death. But life just couldn't be easy for Harry Potter, aka fate's plaything.

Anyway the boy was the only one who could see him – and by only one he really meant that. He had first thought it was a wizard thing but other wizards couldn't see him either, and even seers or psychics couldn't. When he went to look for people around the world who could see him he felt bad to leave his charge behind but if Tom was to be the one who fixed their world then he would have to have access to enough information.

Yes, Harry had decided that if he wasn't the one who would save the world (and wasn't that a relief), then the obvious replacement for him was Tom. As Slytherin's heir he would have political pull, and from what he had heard the boy was a true genius at Hogwarts. Not mentioning his magical prowess of course. Really, if he managed to raise the boy the right way there was no one he would trust more with this task.

He'd never have thought he would get so attached to the boy though, and year after year he found himself spending more and more time in the orphanage with Tom until it was like he had adopted him except that the little wizard still lived in that horrid place.

oO-Oo

"Harry?"

"Yes Tom, what is it?" Harry asked fondly to the brown-eyed kid sitting beside him.

"Why don't they like me?" The tone was so sad that Harry could feel his heart break for the poor nine year old wizard.

"Oh Tom" He ruffled the boy's hair playfully. "They don't like you because they're jealous. They can see that you're so much better than them and they want what you have. Just ignore them and they'll go away. Trust me, bullies don't like to be ignored and if you don't react then they'll stop bothering you. It's what they like, seeing you hurt. So don't let them now you are. Trust me on that, I'd know."

Harry could tell Tom was thinking about what he had just said. He could almost see the dots connecting in his little mind as Tom's head suddenly snapped up.

"You grew up in an orphanage too?"

Harry chuckled. "No I was taken in by my Aunt and Uncle. They just didn't like me much, nor did the kids in the neighborhood. But you and me we're the same, we're both special."

"We're magic!" Harry decided at this moment that Tom's bright smile at this moment was well worth all kind of pain he might have suffered in his life to come here.

"We prefer to use the term wizards Tom. But even more than that we are both destined to do great things, and we can only hope, good things too"

Harry knew his charge desperately wanted to be different, and if telling him he was guaranteed the world would keep on living then he was ready to tell Tom almost anything. Plus this was actually true, so there was no harm really.

Tom wanted to please Harry, because he was actually the only one who really cared for him, and if that meant he had to repress his want for revenge then he would do so. Because the proud look the green-eyed wizard wore on his face when he knew Tom did the better thing and didn't use his magic to use others made every privation and disappointment during the day worth it.

Plus Harry always knew what to say to make him feel better when the other kids in the orphanage bothered him and he told the best stories ever (not that he had heard a lot of other stories anyway – Mrs. Cole didn't want to waste any time with those).

"Does that mean I will be like you when I grow up?"

The look of hope in Tom's brown eyes was almost too much for Harry and he bit his lip to keep himself from laughing again. Really, if someone had told him years ago that one day he would be in front of Tom Riddle, the wizard who killed his parents and tried to kill him, and that Tom's greatest dream would be to become just like him, well, he would have sent them to St Mungo's immediately.

"If that's what you want. But you could be anything you want, really! I'm sure that if you tried hard enough you could even become Minister one day."

"Really?"

"Really. I told you that you could be whatever you wanted"

They sat in silence for several minutes before Tom talked again.

"Will you tell me a story? About Hogwarts?"

"Of course. Which one do you want?"

"A new one please. One I haven't ever heard"

"Alright. Let's see… I think I have exactly what you need. It all began in Hogwarts, more precisely on the seventh floor. You see this floor is very special, because there is a very special room that can give you anything you want…"

oO-Oo

"Tom, a Professor Dumbledore is here to talk with you. Be nice. Mr. Dumbledore, I hope you will take him" With this, the old woman left Dumbledore and Tom alone. Well Harry was there too but Tom was the only one who could see him so he didn't really count.

Tom was sitting on his bed and he was watching the red headed man carefully. "You're not from some kind of asylum, right? Because she said she would call the doctors but I didn't think it was actually serious…" It was obvious the boy was panicking, no matter how hard he was trying to hide it. In another situation, Albus would have laughed, but he didn't want to scare the young wizard. Instead, his blue eyes twinkled even more (if possible).

"Of course not. I'm from Hogwarts, it's a magic school. Do you believe in magic Tom?" Albus smiled at the eager boy in front of him who had perked up at the mention of Hogwarts. Showing magic to Muggle-born children was always the best part. Unfortunately for him, he was in for a rather big surprise.

"I'm really going to Hogwarts? That's awesome! Do you have my letter? And when are we going to Diagon's Alley?" The boy's enthusiasm was amusing, but where had he gotten this information? Albus was actually, for the first time in a long time, gaping.

"How do you know about all of that?" Albus asked, suddenly more careful. In the corner of the room, Harry was face-palming while Tom was almost literally bouncing on his bed with excitement as he explained.

"Harry told me of course. He even told me about you Professor Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore arched an eyebrow and asked who Harry was exactly. At this question, Tom made a wonderful imitation of a deer caught in headlights and whipped his head toward Harry, who was laughing at Tom's face.

"Tell him that I'm the Hallows' Master. He'll understand." Harry smirked at this. He had forgiven the old man for his manipulations but that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun at his expense.

"Harry said that he's the Hallows' Master and that you'd understand. Harry, what are the Hallows?"

As Albus paled, Harry answered Tom, still smirking at the Transfiguration's professor reaction. "I'll tell you later, don't worry. Now, I thought you had a visit to make?"

Tom got up and went to Albus to remind him that they had to go shop for his school's supplies.

"Yes, we're going…" Albus said pensively. "What did you say his name was my boy?"

"I didn't say. But his name is Harry Potter and you shouldn't bother finding him, he doesn't exist yet and from what he told me probably won't again… Not that it makes much such" Tom added, muttering the last part.

And so an excited eleven year-old wizard, a pensive Transfiguration professor destined to kill his ex-best-friend and an amused not-ghost went to Diagon's Alley.

oO-Oo

Tom was going to kill Harry (he would find a way). The man had told him he would have to fight against a dragon to get sorted when in truth the only thing they had to do was to put an old hat on (the hat sang… What kind of joke was this?). Though he wasn't sure knowing he would be judged by an old hat would have helped with his actual nervosity…

"Riddle, Tom"

Tom walked as calmly as he could towards the stool where he put the hat on.

"_I see courage and cleverness but cunningness too… Hum, where should I put you? Oh, this is interesting… What projects you have… This definitely shows ambition. And an heir… Well, I guess you'd better go in_ Slytherin!" The last word was shouted for everyone to hear and Tom walked calmly toward his House table.

From the dark look the majority of his housemates were giving him, he could feel he would have to work hard to be accepted. But he had survived worse (the orphanage) and he could always talk to students from other Houses if the Slytherins bothered him too much. Not that he worried much, he was okay with being left alone, and he still had Harry. Talking about the devil…

The dark-haired man was standing against the wall behind his House table, waving cheerfully and smiling proudly at him. It was almost hard to remember he was angry at him and not to wave back.

oO-Oo

He had found it. He couldn't believe that he had actually managed to find the Chamber of Secrets that his ancestor had created before leaving Hogwarts. It had taken him years (and weeks of trying to get clues from Harry and then try to understand them) to finally stand there, in front of the entrance (the tunnel was ridiculously filthy too) and now he was wondering what he would do.

He knew what Harry wanted him to do but the man was here less and less often these days and Tom wanted to keep this place for himself, like his own secret lair (he had always wanted a secret lair. Everyone should have one, really) even if only for a little while. What should he do?

Sighing, he walked back to the other end of the tunnel and called for stairs. He walked to the Headmaster's office and uttered the password to make the Gargoyle move (a privilege from his prefect position). He waited for Headmaster Dippet to invite him in and entered the room.

"Yes Tom? You have something to tell me?"

"Yes Headmaster. And I believe this will greatly interest you. You see, I am Slytherin's heir, through my mother, and I used the last few years to learn as much as I could about my ancestor. Doing so, I discovered, or should I say rediscovered the Chamber of Secrets…"

An offer to show him the Chamber quickly quieted the man's doubts though, and at the end of the week Tom received a medal for Services To the School and an Order of Marlin, Second Class for his discovery of an historical place which guaranteed him a high place in the Minister when he graduated. He also became suddenly richer thanks to the dissection of the thousand year-old Basilisk that was found there.

For once, Harry was here, smiling proudly at Tom while the Slytherin prefect accepted his rewards in front of the press.

oO-Oo

"Where were you?" The tone was worried but the question definitely an accusation. Harry smiled sadly. He really should have expected this one day.

"Nowhere." Before Tom could speak again, Harry continued, sighing and running his hand through his hair. "Listen, I told you why I came here, right? You remember that I had a task. Well, my task is almost finished so that means there is no more reason for me to stay apparently"

If Tom had nodded at the beginning, he felt cold fear grip his heart tightly at the end of Harry's speech.

"But you're gonna die!" he hated that his voice sounded so panicked when he was usually so collected.

Harry put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "Everybody dies one day, Tom, but that doesn't mean we just disappear."

"But nobody will remember you. No one knows you… They won't ever know you disappeared."

"You forget one thing, my dear boy" Dumbledore's imitation brought a half-smile to Tom's lips, but that was enough for now for Harry and he went on. "You know me. And one day, the whole world's gonna know you're name. Make me proud, and that'll be enough for me. Just be great Tom and have fun in your life."

"Be good too, right?"

Harry laughed at their long-standing joke. "Yeah, of course. Be good. But do it for a good reason, not because someone else wants you to."

"Who do you take me for? An idiotic Gryffindor? Please, I'm a dignified Slytherin." Neither knew how Tom managed to keep a straight face while saying this, but it didn't last long. As soon as he closed his mouth, they were both laughing.

The conversation wasn't completely forgotten, though… Especially since over the next year Harry's apparition got even rarer until Tom was actually surprised when he showed up.

Nonetheless, he strived to become the best and at 27 he became the youngest Minister of Magic ever. To be a man worthy the man that raised him.

Nobody noticed the invisible black-haired man cross the Veil once again, but this time for the last.

_Or was it? _


End file.
